Facebook has announced new resources in order to better support black-owned businesses, as part of the company’s huge effort to address racial inequality in the US.

In light of that Facebook explains: “Black-owned businesses have faced systemic barriers for generations – and the huge amount of interest we received from these businesses has confirmed just how enormous the challenges they continue to face really are. That is why we doubled down on investing in and building tools to help this community.”

Talking more about the new addition from Facebook, the main addition is a new option for businesses to identify their page as a Black or minority-owned business on Facebook, “so anyone who wants to support them can do so easily”

As shown above, the new listing will be displayed in the “Businesses’ Nearby” listing on Facebook, to provide more ways for Facebook users to support the Black community.

“Diverse business categories will be associated with business Pages, not people, and self-designation is completely voluntary – Page admins can choose to skip, edit, or remove diverse-owned business information at any time.”

This is just another way for Facebook to facilitate connection, besides promoting Black-owned SMBs through exposure within the application.

More about Black-owned Businesses:

Not only that but Facebook has also published a new guide for Black business owners as well as entrepreneurs, and that includes a wide range of tips and notes in order to assist in Facebook usage for business promotion.

Furthermore, Facebook has provided its latest update on its $200 million funding program for Black-owned businesses, which is now open for applications in the US.

“We know every day counts, so we’re partnering with Accenture and the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) to get these grants to Black-owned businesses quickly.”

Right after the #BlackLivesMattermovemennt Facebook has made supporting racial diversity a priority and the recent results of Facebook’s own civil rights audit.

Moreover, that audit raised different concerns about Facebook’s approach to diversity initiatives, along with a specific focus on its facilitation, besides amplification, of racist hate speech. Anyhow, that same concern leads to the Facebook ad boycott in July, with civil rights groups calling on main brands to pause their Facebook ad spend, to send a message to the company.

In follow-up meetings, several civil rights leaders said that they felt Facebook was not listening to their concerns, as well as emphasizing this as an area in which the company needs to change.

Additionally, Facebook is looking to improve this with its new actions, and while issues with its approach to hate speech continue, its support programs might help improve relations with the Black community.